Egypt Stymies Republican Message Machine — The Republican strategy in the Senate this week was simple: force Democrats to consider a total repeal of President Obama’s health care law to draw attention to the fact that the president’s party still supports what Republicans believe is a wildly unpopular law. It worked like a charm, except for one problem: No one was watching. A “wildly unpopular” law that polls quite well if you ask people about what it actually does, rather than throwing out scare questions. And honestly, this couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of liars and political con men.

?otD: Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home?

The immediate aftermath of tragedy — Phil Plait on the Giffords shooting. I take his point, but we do live in a culture where discussion of “Second Amendment remedies” has become an accepted part of one party’s mainstream discourse. I have trouble believing that such rhetoric doesn’t help foster a climate where behaviors like the shooter’s come to seem appropriate rather than insane. Juan Cole addresses this question. Also, Digby touches on it as well. You are responsible for the consequences of your beliefs, something very few conservatives, or Second Amendment enthusiasts, are ever willing to take on.

[personal|writing] My 2010 Year in Review

2010 has been a very difficult year for me, but it’s also been a very accomplished year. The ironies of this are not lost upon me. And frankly, the leading indicators for 2011 are not much improved. We shall see.

In short fiction, I had about twenty-five appearances, one jointly authored with Ken Scholes, several more with Shannon Page.

Other Activities

I was nominated for an Airship Award for the Mainspring cycle, sold French and German rights to various of my books, and edited METAtropolis: Cascadia, Audible.com’s followup to the highly successful METAtropolis audiobook.

226,200 words of first draft (Kalimpura, twelve short stories, outlines to Kalimpura and Sunspin, several nonfiction items)

Revisions to Endurance

Approximately 1,000 blog posts

Personal Life

All of this while recovering from lung surgery, undergoing six months of chemotherapy, experiencing and recovering from liver surgery, holding down a full-time job, parenting, and spending the last three months of the year watching my primary relationship erode and vanish. So while the writing held up remarkably well (I accomplished more in 2010 than in 2009), the rest of the year sucked rocks and is totally fired.

[contests] The Sky That Wraps caption contest winner

A month or so ago I held a caption contest for The Sky That Wraps. Unfortunately, real life intervened and I was unable to process the poll in a timely manner. For this, I apologize. Herewith is the winning caption.

I have now embedded the comments into a voting poll. Unfortunately, some of the longer witticisms are truncated by the poll code. Usual rules apply. Prize after the voting poll will be an inscribed copy of The Sky That Wraps. Additional prizes may be awarded at the judge’s discretion.

Which caption best suits this photo of Jay laughing?

Alex J. Kane - If you're going to do that, sir, the law prefers that you do so in the center of the city street with one hand on the arse of your horse, for the sake of balance. (17%, 8 Votes)

markbourne - "Jay rolled his eyes, an action he usually avoided because putting them back in again tickled like the dickens." (13%, 6 Votes)

delkytlar - Jay's spirits get a lift when he learns that everyone at WorldCon actually thought his new hairstyle was a hat. (6%, 3 Votes)

elizaeffect - Wonka's new tomato-flavored chewing gum sounded disgusting at first, but was a surprise hit at the Lake compound - until the transformation began... (6%, 3 Votes)

Gerry Huntman - Jay Lake, wearing on his shirt the extremely rare, but fragrant, Euphoric Daffodil, the only plant known to exude, even after picking, nitris oxide. (6%, 3 Votes)

H - "No really the view of the sheep is out of this world! Here, lemme lend you my eye." (6%, 3 Votes)

goulo - Because his cap is ribbed for extra pleasure. (6%, 3 Votes)

deza - "You think a published author makes how much?" (4%, 2 Votes)

cjmarsicano - I don't need the silly turban and the sealed envelopes to do Johnny Carson's "Carnac The Magnificent" routine. (4%, 2 Votes)

catjuggling - "I sense a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices cried out in terror, when I farted." (4%, 2 Votes)

[contests] The Sky That Wraps caption contest

Author copies of The Sky That Wraps have arrived. This is of course my gorgeous new short fiction collection from the delightful Subterranean Press. You can order it here, should you be so inclined.

But we all know what author copies mean — a giveaway via caption contest! So I hereby declare another one of those suckers, based on a photo from the recent New Zealand trip. Your challenge is to write a caption that answers the question “Why is this man laughing so hard?”

First prize will be a personalized, signed copy of the book, additional prizes to be awarded at my discretion. Usual rules apply. I’ll collect captions in comments here (at both jlake.com and jaylake.livejournal.com) until I get bored with it, then build a voting poll. Please try to limit the length of your entries or they may become truncated in the poll code.